Detonating fire alarm



March 8, 1966 R. R. RICHARDS 3,238,874

DETONA'IING FIRE ALARM Filed July 27, 1964 INVENTOR. RAYMOND R. RICHARDS ATTORNEY United States Patent C) 3,238,874 DEIONATING FIRE ALARM Raymond R. Richards, Hayward, Calif. (Rte. 1, Box 1225, Fall City, Wash.) Filed July 27, 1964, Ser. No. 385,443 1 Claim. (Cl. 102-33) The present invention relates to improvements in a detonating fire alarm. It consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

As the cardinal object of the invention, it is proposed to provide a detonating fire alarm that may be placed at various places in a house and having a fuse that will be ignited by a fire in the house, giving a series of spaced warnings of explosive nature to the occupants.

More particularly it is proposed to provide an elongated tube having a plurality of spaced firecrackers disposed in its bore, each firecracker having its own fuse located in proximity to a main fuse, the latter extending longitudinally through the bore 'of the tube, with its opposite ends being exposed for being ignited by an adjacent fire.

Another object is to provide a detonating fire alarm of the character described which is simple in construction, durable and efficient for the purpose intended.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds. The novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Drawing For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be had to accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of my detonating fire alarm;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the plane 22 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side view of one of the firecrackers, partly in section, and disclosing the fuse of this firecracker as being attached to the main fuse.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should be understood that various changes, or modifications, may be made Within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit thereof.

Detailed description Referring now to the drawing in detail, an elongated tube A is provided having a bore of uniform diameter extending longitudinally therethrough, as clearly shown in FIGURE 2. A main fuse B is mounted to extend lengthwise of the bore 10, and having its opposite ends 11 exposed for being ignited by an adjacent fire.

It will be noted that a plurality of firecrackers C are disposed in the bore 10, With adjacent firecrackers being spaced from one another and these firecrackers are arranged in aligned relation. Moreover, these firecrackers frictionally engage with the wall of the bore so as to maintain the spacings of the firecrackers.

Each firecrackers C is provided with its own fuse 12 having a tip located in proximity to the main fuse B, whereby burning of the latter will ignite the fuses 12 of the firecrackers in succession as the burning of the main fuse B progresses along the length of the tube A, thereby producing a series of explosive Warnings to occupants of a house wherein the detonating fire alarm is arranged.

The fuses 12 of the individual firecrackers C may be attached by tapes 13, or the like, to the main fuse B, thus assuring the fact that the firecracker fuses will be ignited as the burning of the main fuse progresses.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the fuses 12 of those firecrackers C disposed in one-half of the tube A project toward the adjacent end of the tube, and the remaining firecrackers have their fuses projecting toward the opposite end of the tube. This will facilitate the initial warnings as the fuse B is burned from either end. The ends 11 of the main fuse B may extend beyond the ends of the tube A to desired distances to facilitate igniting of this fuse from a fire that may have started in the house.

In FIGURE 3, the conventional firecracker C has powder 14 enclosed in a paper sheath 15 in the customary manner. Of course, the tube A may be made from any suitable material, such as plastic or paper.

In order to prevent children from tampering with the firecrackers C, caps 16 may be applied over the opposite ends of the tube A, and these caps are preferably secured to the tube by adhesive. These caps may be fashioned with slots 17 in the annular depending wall and a portion of the top of the cap. Thus, the caps 16 may be applied over the ends of the tube after the firecrackers C are assembled in the bore 10 of the tube, with the main fuse B projecting through the slots in the caps.

Any suitable means may be utilized for supporting the tube A in active position, for instance, behind a drape in a room. For this purpose, a tab 18 may be attached to the exterior of the tube with this tab having an opening 19 therein so that a safety pin (not shown) may be inserted through this opening and the pin secured to the drape.

It will thus be evident that in case a fire is accidentally started in the house, a series of spaced warnings will be given to the occupants.

I claim:

A detonating fire alarm comprising:

(a) an elongated tube formed with a bore of uniform diameter extending longitudinally therethrough;

(b) a plurality of firecrackers disposed in the bore,

with adjacent firecrackers being spaced from one another and the firecrackers being arranged in aligned relation;

(c) these firecrackers frictionally engaging with a Wall of the bore so as to maintain the spacing of the firecrackers;

(d) a main fuse mounted to extend lengthwise of the bore, and having its opposite ends exposed for being ignitedby an adjacent fire;

(e) each firecracker being provided with its own fuse having a tip attached to the main fuse, whereby burning of the latter will ignite the fuses of the firecrackers in succession as the burning of the main fuse progresses along the length of the tube, thereby producing a series of explosive warnings;

(f) the fuses of those firecrackers disposed in one end section of the tube projecting toward the adjacent end of the tube, and the remaining firecrackers having their fuses projecting toward the opposite end of the tube, thus facilitating the initial warnings as the main fuse is burned from either end;

(g) both ends of the main fuse extending beyond the tube to facilitate igniting of this fuse.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,043,228 11/1912 Harrington et a1 116105 1,597,471 8/ 1926 Kaplon 102-33 X 1,811,716 6/1931 Duncan 116105 2,544,946 3/1951 Allen 102-33 X FOREIGN PATENTS 650,931 10/1928 France.

(Other references on following page) 3 References Cited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 761,368 5/1904 Flowers. 1,009,638 11/1911 Bland. 1,077,966 11/1913 Fretwell.

4 1,500,408 7/1924 Martin. 1,515,936 11/1924 De Ross. 2,059,113 10/1936 Kalstrom.

5 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

R. F. STAHL, Assistant Examiner. 

